If the state Department of Environmental Conservation approves upgrades to the waste water treatment plant made on the local level, the village expects to save up to $4 million in costs.
“It appears the DEC will agree but Albany has to approve it,” said Mayor Todd Rouse.
Rouse and village administrator Larry Carpenter met with members of the DEC and asked if they could redo the consent order placed upon the village as far as timelines are concerned.
“If we can extend out another year and look at cost savings on what we can do on a local basis on some of the plant upgrades we can save a considerable amount of money,” Rouse said.
Rouse and Carpenter also met with members of Operations & Maintenance Inc., the company contracted to run the plant to get its opinion on what work can be provided by local companies.
“It’s a huge savings if we can do it internally, just in the way of labor,” Rouse said.
Upgrades to the plant such as the combine system overflow and the pump station are not something that can be done locally, but 50 percent of the costs revolve around the plant itself as far as replacing 25 year old pumps, and upgrades to electrical, heating and air-conditioning can be done locally.
The village would like to reverse timelines and if they can identify the internal upgrades and are agreed upon by the DEC, then they can stay in sync with the consent order as to what needs to be replaced or upgraded and by when.
The village would also like to reduce the engineering costs with CDM, which are around $1.4 million for the project. Carpenter has taken the lead role managing the finances and oversight of the project, about a $300,000 savings, Rouse said.
“We are looking to hire someone part-time to do what the engineering firm does in putting in man hours, someone, for lack of a better word, clerk of the works,” Rouse said. This is also about a $300,000 savings, he said.
“We are going to look at this avenue,” Rouse said. “If everything goes the way it’s planned we can get this project down to 9 or $10 million. It’s up around $14.5 million now. Remember, if the project exceeds the budgeted amount then we lose that zero percent interest. That’s a big deal. You are talking millions of dollars.”
